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Army of Shadows



Army of Shadows

Welcome MoFos! It is that time again for another edition of An Evening at the Movies with The Gunslinger45! Unfortunately I could not make it to the theater again. Not because of weather issues, but because I got a DVD in that I was waiting on. It was the movie I wanted to see before I turned in my list for the MoFo 1960’s Countdown. And since my choices at the theater were between Focus and Chappie; I opted to stay in, watch this film, turn in my 60’s list, then go back to the theater next week. Also I wanted one film that DOESN’T deal with anal sex like the last three movies I reviewed. Otherwise I would have to call this thread “Gunslinger Reviews Trash and Smut.” But since this movie is about the French Resistance odds are good I am safe there. Now the DVD is in okay shape, but it is clear this was bought up from a library in Kansas. However it is still a functional Criterion DVD (though from now on I will buy them in New or Like New condition from now on). Army of Shadows is a French film by director Jean-Pierre Melville. A director I was already familiar with thanks to his FANTASTIC film Le Samurai; which I also have the Criterion DVD for. Needless to say I liked Le Samurai and want to see more of Melville’s work. So I figured this would be a great place to start. A film I know a lot of the more art house friendly MoFos here like and recommended. So let’s chant Viva Le France to the Heavens as we whack some Nazis with Army of Shadows.

The film opens with a French Resistance leader Gerbier after being taken into custody by Vichy Police. After being kept in a camp for a night he is brought to Paris for questioning. From there he and another prisoner make a ballsy escape and they are successful. He returns to Marseille, where he meets up with and manages members of the French Resistance in that area. He is aided by a burly man known as Le Bison, a young man named Le Masque and his friend Felix. In addition to these three, he works with a pilot named Jean Francois, a seemingly mild mannered housewife but brilliant leader in Mathilde, and a wealthy scholar and philosopher named Luc Jardie. All of whom comprise the local French Resistance in the area. The movie details their struggle against Nazi occupiers, trying to secure supplies and men for ops, staying in the shadows, covering their tracks, and hiding their true identities. But the tone of the movie is really set in one of the early scenes. Gerbier and company must deal with a traitor in the ranks who sold them out to the Germans. They take the traitor to an abandoned house in what they believe is a deserted neighborhood, only to discover tenants have moved in next door. Without a suppressor for their pistol, and lacking a knife, they are forced to make a hard choice and must strangle their former comrade to death. And that really sets the tone of the film; a bleak movie about a group of freedom fighters who must make hard brutal decisions dealing with unforeseen circumstances and doing so with very limited resources.

The film is by no means a fast paced film by today’s standards, but in many ways it is kind of an art-house action movie. You get plenty of somber and reflective moments, perfect atmosphere, and fantastic cinematography one would expect from an art house film. But there is also a surprising amount of scenes you would see in an action movie. You have the execution of the traitor, you get a bunch of guys doing a covert boarding of a submarine at night, you have Gerbier jumping out of a plane paratrooper style, various escape attempts, and even the after effects of torture. Now if you go into this film expecting something akin to Michael Bay or 80’s Schwarzenegger movies you will be disappointed. But the film is much more eventful then other films a non art house guy would expect from an “artsy French movie.”

I do not claim to be an expert in French cinema by any degree, but compared to the French films I have encountered, Melville seems to stand out a bit more for me. On one hand you have French directors I do not particularly connect with like Godard. His films are generally good to watch (except Pierrot Le Fou), but feel hollow upon reflection. Kind of like candy, you get a sugar rush to what is on the screen, but the next day the film does not seem to be that good. At least that is how I felt with Breathless and Contempt. I also saw Jean Vigo’s L’Atalante which I did not care for. By no means bad films, but they do not really stick with me much. Then you have directors who have made good movies I have seen like Renoir. I have seen Boudu Saved from Drowning and Le Grand Illusion which are both good films, and then I saw Rules of the Game, which I did not care for. Then we have directors I like but need to see more of like Cocteau, Bresson, and Truffaut. Cocteau made a pretty damn good film with Le Belle et Le Bete, which is his fairy tale film adaptation of Beauty and the Beast (and Moviegal’s favorite film). Bresson made the wonderful Pickpocket and Truffaut’s The 400 Blows was very poignant. Melville however is my particular favorite of the bunch. I have only seen two of his films so far but I want very much to explore the rest of his work. While the other French films I have watched are still very good, most of them seemed to focus on human drama and social/political metaphors for the most part. Boudu Saved from Drowning was focused on a homeless guy who is tried to be saved by high society (with plenty of social metaphors), Pickpocket while dealing with crime (a subject I like), also focused heavily on the protagonist’s relationship with his mother and a girl he knows. And The 400 Blows was Truffaut’s personal film which reflected his feelings about his childhood. Melville on the other hand likes to make films about hitmen and people who kill Nazis. Needless to say, he sounds like my kind of director. And this film was not a disappointment.

I liked the camera work of this film and really liked the bleak tone of the movie. A tone reflective of his own life. You see kiddies, Melville is not just a cool non de plume for a director. Melville was his code name when he fought for the French Resistance. Before he was a filmmaker, Melville was fighting Nazi’s in Operation Dragoon which lead to the Allied liberation of French Ports Tulon and Marseille. Which if you are paying attention, is the location of where this movie is. These are the street Melville walked while opposing the Teutonic Twats that were the 3rd Reich. Making Melville a bad ass in my eyes. This film is bleak because this is what the director lived when France was occupied. I don’t know exactly what he did in the War (maybe I will learn this on the DVD extras). He might have had to make those hard choices; he lived the danger; and got to fight the greatest evil known to modern man. His characters are shown to be complex men and women who while they may do things that might unsettle you, are ultimately shown to be heroic figures. And unfortunately the release of this film was very ill timed. This was released in 1969, coming very soon after the events of May 68. May 68 was a period of protests, takeover of universities and factories, strikes, and general civil uprising by Communist and Socialists who were upset with the current government run by President de Gaulle (who we see as a General in the Film). So a film about the heroes of the French Resistance did not really go over so well. Not to mention the Algerian War was still a thing, and the glorification of French Resistance was not in vague when you have France occupying Algeria. And a lot of critics hammered this film. It did not get much screen time, and the film was not widely released. Hell we in America did not get to see it until 2006! That is insane!

But the film is excellent! If you have a pension for the art house I say give this a watch. Did this make my 60’s list? We shall see when the countdown happens. Until then, Jean Pierre Melville is quickly becoming a favorite director of mine and I need to see the rest of his filmography. Slowly but surely I feel I am becoming this guy.